A Ceremony of Carols - Christmas Ompulse 2

For the first time, the NEUE KAMMERCHOR HEIDENHEIM dares to tackle a milestone in the Christmas chamber choir literature: A Ceremony of Carols by Benjamin Britten.

The piece was made forChristmaswritten and consists of elevensentences. It is based on lyricsThe English Galaxy of Shorter PoemsfromGerald Bullettthat onMiddle Englishto be sung. The piece was published on December 4, 1943 in theWigmore HallinLondonPremiered.

The work was written in 1942 while Britten was en route from theUnited StatesafterEnglandwas on the high seas. It was created at the same time as BrittensHymn to St Ceciliaand is stylistically very similar.

Britten originally planned a series of individual songs. However, they were later fashioned into a coherent work. The framework for this is the unanimousHodie Christ natus est(lat.: "Today Christ was born"), which is based on aGregorian antiphonis based and is intoned by the choir at the entrance and exit. A harp solo based on this chant, as well as some other motifs from Wolcum Yole, also serves to meld into one piece. In the movements "This Little Babe" and "Deo Gracias" the chorus reflects harp-like effects through usagetighter canons.

The NEUE KAMMERCHOR HEIDENHEIM will be accompanied by Helena Andreula on the harp. The twenty-one-year-old Bachelor of Music student came into contact with music at an early age through her musician parents. At the age of five she began taking harp lessons from Ilse Reynders-Speck and just three years later won her first prize at the regional competition Jugend musiziert. This was followed by further awards also nationally and nationally. In 2015 she attended several workshops and master classes with Margit Süss and Park Stickney, among others. Since then she has been helping out as a harpist with various orchestras, including wind bands and symphony orchestras, and is engaged in several choirs.